Prevalence and Risk Factors of Postpartum Depression in Provincial Area

ABSTRACT

Background@#Studies on prevalence and social variables affecting postpartum depression appear to be inconsistent. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of postpartum depression, as well as the correlation between education, offspring, age, and risk of the postpartum depression. @*Methods@#This study included 144 mothers living in Chungju who appeared to experience postpartum depression based on a score of >10 marks on the Korean version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Correlation and logistic regression analyses were used to calculate correlation coefficients and odds ratios (OR) for postpartum depression based on the education level of mothers and number of offspring. @*Results@#Prevalence of postpartum depression was found to be 29.17%. Age was not significantly correlated with EPDS score. EPDS scores tended to decrease with the increase in the number of education years (OR, 0.66); however, EPDS scores tended to increase with the increase in the number of offspring increased (OR, 1.65). @*Conclusion@#The result of this study demonstrates that education acts as a protective factor and number of offspring acts as a risk factor for postpartum depression. It also suggests that proper intervention in the mothers’ educational level and number of offspring is necessary.